PDP 47TH NEC: LAMENTATION OF A G-NOTHING PRESIDENT: President Umaru Yar, Adua as the lead actor in the theatre of the current Nigerian project or rather play seems to be perfecting his dramatic wizardry.
How else can anybody describe the President’s recent lamentation of Nigeria’s absence at the G-20 talks in London if not to say that it was the height of deceit by a nation that has a very false impression of everything about it?
The President at the 47th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja said he was very “sad” that the 20 most developed countries met in London to resolve the global economic crises and Nigeria was not invited.
This was the President’s heart- felt lamentation for Nigeria: “I must say that this is a sad day for me. And I think it should be for all Nigerians. When 20 leaders of the leading countries in the world are meeting and Nigeria is not there, this is something we need to reflect upon. We have he population, we have the potentials, we have the ability, we have the capacity, and we have the collective wisdom.
What do we lack? Is it the will that we lack…. to realize these potentials? Potential is nothing unless it is realized. No matter the potential you have, unless you work on it, it will not be realized. We must realize it and lead the nation to realize it. This is what we must do; this is what the PDP must do so that the nation can realize its potentials.
There are certain issues that outrightly contradict the President’s feign sadness of the nation’s backwardness and his worries on the probable consequences of the global economic meltdown.
Is our president not aware that the invitation to this category of G-20 meeting was strictly by qualification? There are indices that determine qualification for the meetings. And regrettably, those indicators are completely non-existent. Worst still, Yar’Adua as the sitting President seems not to be in a hurry to do anything towards ensuring that this nation joins a G- Something group. Maybe our leaders are very comfortable with Nigeria being a super- power in another kind of G-20- this time of the poorest nations in the world.
Where is our own economic stimulus package? Whether copyright or original, nobody in government has bothered to think of any form of stimulus or mitigation package. Rather, our rulers are more concerned in sharing the excess crude earnings for their blurred development agenda.
Wallahi going by what is on ground in addition to all the seven-pointed efforts by the Yar’adua –led government, Nigeria is obviously not in a hurry to belong to the prestigious G-20 group of serious-minded nations.
Contrary to some opinions that Nigeria’s exclusion from the G20 meeting was a huge humiliation, it was a very clear message that we should get serious in the business of good governance.
All we need now is a good and clearly focused leadership that can give direction to the country. This nation should as a matter of urgency begin now to address the issue of poor leadership that has been producing arrangee governments at all levels through electoral frauds.
Two years into Yar’adua’s Presidency, Nigerians are still very confused whether his Seven-Point Agenda is a mere political slogan or economic mechanism. For instance we are fighting a war on corruption without any recorded case of casualty. All the people that should be in prison or detention today are freely moving around and living flamboyant lifestyles and even playing critical roles in the Yar’adua’s administration. So it is not about being sad. We must have to rethink everything about this project called Nigeria and begin to show some level of seriousness that we want to be recognised in the scheme of things at the global platform.
Just on the Power Sector, the Federal Government says its plans to generate 6, 000 megawatts of electricity this year and 10, 000 megawatts in 2011 were on course as all the funds have been set aside and implementation begun.
In the words of the President at the PDP NEC Meeting: “I want to express my confidence that by the grace of God this target will be achieved by the end of this year and by the end of 2011. I am reiterating this so that the nation will know what the PDP government is doing and we have no Nigerian in any doubt as regards what we intend to deliver so that the nation can hold the government and the party responsible.”
Good as it sounded, a closer look at the issues in the power sector indicates that the set targets may just be mere dreams except there are unseen contingency plans.
The 2009 Budget set aside over N200 billion for implementing gas projects, aimed at acquiring capacity to deliver 1.2bn scf of gas to domestic market mostly for the power initiative.
The projects to be executed with the above allocation include: National Domestic Gas Projects; Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline Project; Calabar-Umuahia-Ajaokuta Gas Pipeline; Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kano Gas Pipeline; Gas Supply Pipeline to PHCN Delta IV; Gas pipelines to power plants including: Omotosho, Papalanto and Alaoji; Mambilla hydro-electric power generation project.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });
Interestingly, six of the seven projects that would help actualise the projected power generation targets are supposed to rely on natural gas-fired plant and the Government up till now has no iota of clue on how to ensure that natural gas feedstock are sourced from the Niger Delta oilfields and supplied to the various site of the power plants without militant disruption or any other form of hiccup. All the Federal Government seems to be doing as the President said at the PDP 47th NEC Meeting in Abuja is funding the JTF to enhance their capacity to maintain “law and order in the Niger Delta” whatever that means. Bros, eeno goo work!
IFEANYI IZEZE, ABUJA ([email protected])
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });